


DRAMAtical Murder RE:Awakened

by HakuSaitoSan



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 22:42:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19799248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HakuSaitoSan/pseuds/HakuSaitoSan
Summary: Note to Readers:This story is a mix of routes, but I did take certain liberties. For example, Sei lives after the fall of the Oval Tower, but Ren survives, too (you’ll find out how later in the story!). I just had a mental issue with Ren in Sei’s body... >.>  Plus, I thought Sei deserved a chance to live! :PAlso, some things that happened on others’ routes will still happen, but with someone other than Aoba. Some things will just NOT happen (especially concerning Mink’s route).There MIGHT be mention of past abuse or inferred abuse, but there will be NO rape/non-con in this story. There will be fairly explicit sexual scenarios, however.This story begins right after Mink and Aoba go to Heibon after that ordeal with Scratch.The story will be in different PoVs, so please let me know if that gets confusing for you. Early on, there will be a lot of paraphrased content directly from the game, with changes here and there to make my story work.Pairings: Will be posted as they begin to happen.Critiques are welcome; please be civil. :P





	DRAMAtical Murder RE:Awakened

Mink watched as Aoba sat gingerly on the edge of a battered old chair in Heibon’s basement and leaned toward them. He was disappointed with the turn of events, but Mink had learned long ago how to play the game, even if the rules of that game changed. He had wanted Aoba to himself—to use his talent to get to Toue. However, since the others had intruded on that plan, he would have to improvise.

He studied the two men seated adjacent to him. He was certain they would do little more than get in his way, but he would watch them, just in case. In the meantime, he refused to call them by their given names. That sort of intimate gesture suggested friendship, and he wanted no part of it. Instead, he gave them impersonal tags.

Koujaku, the hot-headed leader of Beni-Shigure, was dubbed Red for any number of reasons—the way he dressed, the way he lacked control of his fiery temper. The man let his emotions rule his actions; he was too unstable. There was nothing Mink cared to exploit there. It was too risky.

Clear, the odd-looking, gas-mask wearing man who called Aoba “Master”, was an unknown. There might be something to exploit if his over-the-top feelings for the blue-haired man didn’t get in the way. Only time would tell, and time was something Mink didn’t have. He tucked the information away, just in case an opportunity arose, and turned his attention back to Aoba.

The young man had closed his eyes, and Mink watched him draw in a deep breath, most likely in an attempt to calm his nerves. The boy was jittery, though Mink knew much of that was his own fault. But he had no room for regrets and he had needed to get Aoba in hand quickly. It hadn’t taken long for him to realize that his approach had not been the best choice, but there was little he could do to change what was already done. Getting to Toue was the only thing that mattered and he would do _anything_ to reach that end. As he watched Aoba closely, his thoughts were interrupted by Red.

“Aoba, what the hell is going on? Where _were_ you? Where is Tae-san?”

Aoba bit his lip and tried to think of a way to explain everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. He looked up and found Koujaku staring at him with a slight frown.

“What happened?”

The concern in Koujaku’s voice was obvious to everyone in the room, and Mink knew Aoba would never be able to hide anything from the man. Aoba sighed and looked down at his hands, folded on his lap.

“Granny was...taken.”

“What?! Taken? What do you mean? By who?”

“Morphine,” Mink stated with a flat voice.

Koujaku stared at Mink in disbelief before giving a derisive snort. “You have to be joking. _Morphine_? Really? You seriously expect me to buy that shit? Tae-san doesn’t do Rib. Why would she be taken by Morphine?”

“Believe what you want,” Mink said, looking completely uninterested.

“Koujaku, it’s true...I saw Morphine’s tag art myself,” Aoba insisted, leaning forward again and looking earnestly into his friend’s eyes.

“But that makes no sense! Maybe it’s just somebody _claiming_ to be Morphine. Maybe it’s somebody trying to trick you!” Koujaku glared at Mink in undisguised accusation.

Mink didn’t react. He watched Koujaku, amused at how easy the man was to read.

“You aren’t going to deny it?” Koujaku asked, angrily. “Why are you even here? Why don’t you just get lost?”

“That isn’t up to you. It’s his decision,” Mink said, nodding toward Aoba. “We’ve agreed that, in exchange for my help finding his grandmother, he will accept my conditions.”

“What?! What conditions? _Aoba_!?”

Aoba looked down at his hands again and clenched them into fists. “Koujaku...I don’t know any other way to save Granny. You understand, right?” He looked up with pleading eyes. “Please, I need your help, too!”

“Aoba...” Koujaku frowned again as he looked searchingly into Aoba’s eyes. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “All you have to do is ask. You should know that by now.”

Aoba nodded and smiled. “Yeah, thanks.”

Koujaku immediately turned his attention back to Mink, ready to drag those ‘conditions’ out of the brute physically if necessary. But Mink was paying him no mind. Instead, he had his head cocked to the side, looking toward the door.

“Hey, you bastard!” Koujaku snarled, displeased with being ignored. Aoba placed a restraining hand on his arm and looked at Mink questioningly.

“Oi,” Mink said, thrusting his chin at the large cockatoo perched on his shoulder. The AllMate flapped its wings and flew out the door.

There was a minute of tense silence, with Koujaku glaring at Mink, and then the bird returned carrying a small cube. He dropped the object into Mink’s outstretched palm and settled back onto his shoulder once more. Mink recognized the device in his hand right away.

“A listening device,” he murmured, tossing the cube to Aoba. “Do you recognize it?”

“P!”

“It’s _his_...Noiz’s!” Aoba exclaimed in surprise.

“Rude,” Mink said and then looked toward Koujaku. “Friend of yours?”

Koujaku ignored the slight jab and growled, “It’s that damned eavesdropping bean sprout again!”

Mink arched a brow at Aoba. “Acquaintance?”

“Well...sort of,” Aoba admitted with a nervous chuckle.

“An information gatherer,” Mink said, more to himself than to the men in the room. His interest was piqued. This ‘Noiz’ could possibly be useful. “Call him,” he ordered.

“Huh?!”

“Call him. Use your ‘work’ voice.”

Aoba blinked. Would that really be okay? And how would he contact Noiz anyway? And did he _want_ to contact him? Mink and Noiz both gave Aoba a bad feeling. Confusion clouded his expression as he looked into Mink’s eyes.

“How am I supposed to call him?”

Mink stared at him with a disdainful smirk. “He’s listening right now, isn’t he?” He inclined his head toward the cube in Aoba’s hand.

“P! Listening! Listening!”

“Ooooh, so cute!” Clear exclaimed excitedly, causing Koujaku to jump. Everyone eyed the gas-mask wearing odd-ball in consternation. “Ehhhh?! Why is everyone staring at me like that?” he asked, waving his hands.

Nobody responded and Koujaku finally piped up, glaring at Mink. “Hey...what are you telling Aoba, you prick?”

Mink ignored him and kept his eyes trained on Aoba. He could see the younger man’s misgivings. They were written all over his face. He indicated the cube once more. “Do it.”

Aoba took a deep breath to calm himself and began to speak.

“Noiz? Can you hear me?” Aoba paused and tried to think of what to say to convince the Rhymer to come to him. “A lot of crazy stuff has happened. We could use every person we can get...Would you help?” He paused again. “I’ll do whatever you want in exchange.”

“Aoba!” Koujaku interrupted, shocked at his friend’s offer.

Aoba ignored him.

“ _Please, Noiz, help me_.”

Mink leaned forward. The inflection of Aoba’s voice had been different. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Gas Mask squirming. So he had noticed it, too? Casting his eyes in Red’s direction, he smirked. Red had no clue what had just happened. And the man called himself Aoba’s best friend.

As the minutes passed, Mink contemplated what he had learned of the men present in the short time he had spent with them. Red, just as Mink suspected, was too caught up in his emotions to see what was right in front of his face. He missed things that no leader of a Rib team should miss. Mink, in no way, underestimated the man, however. Red had a reputation for a reason. He was a leader for a reason. His problem was he chose to use brawn and raw emotion over brains. Mink clicked his tongue in displeasure. So much wasted potential in that one.

He shifted his musings to Gas Mask. The man...or was he a boy? It was difficult to tell with that damned contraption covering his face. Either way, he was proving far more interesting than Mink had initially thought. Gas Mask was perceptive, even if he was more than a little odd. And he seemed to be attuned to Aoba in some way that Mink had yet to figure out. That was both a pro and a con, at least in Mink’s opinion. He would keep his eye on that one.

After a very brief yet tense amount of time passed, Noiz showed up at Heibon. Koujaku fumed, glaring at everybody in the room except Aoba. Noiz went in the opposite direction and ignored everyone, his eyes resting on Aoba, waiting for an explanation.

Mink studied the newcomer with interest. His age came as a small surprise. He was young. In Mink’s opinion, there were few young people with the dedication it took to be an expert at anything, let alone something as tricky as information-gathering. Rather, they could gather the intelligence, but would they know what to do with it? This kid had sharp, intelligent eyes and that intrigued Mink. The older man settled back and listened, searching for anything that would tell him whether the boy would be of use to him.

Noiz felt eyes on him from four different people, but he showed no interest in any but Aoba, to whom he began to speak.

“Dry Juice is first among Rib teams and nobody can locate them?”

“Yeah,” Aoba said with a quick nod.

“With that many members, they must have been scattered all over the island.”

“Yeah...I guess so.”

It was obvious to Mink that Aoba had no idea what the maniac was getting at.

“My team has been looking everywhere, but we haven’t located a _single_ _member_ of Dry Juice,” Koujaku admits, wearily.

“And I’ve been searching, too, Master! I searched from the rooftop, but found nothing.”

Everyone turned to look at Clear but Noiz quickly returned his attention to Aoba.

“They must be in a place where nobody is allowed; a restricted area. It’s the only explanation for not being able to find such a large body of people.”

Mink silently agreed and he took more interest in the maniac. He liked what he saw in the kid, so far. Noiz wasn’t afraid of the others; hadn’t even paid them a moment’s notice, though Mink knew that he was being studied as closely as he was studying the kid. The maniac might be useful. He wasn’t hot-headed like Red, or a worry-wart like Aoba. He didn’t have an odd aura about him like Gas Mask. He appeared to be logical and to the point, both qualities that Mink could work with.

“He’s right,” Mink cut in, staring at Noiz. “Of course, only an information-hungry maniac would know.”

“I’m not a maniac.”

Mink took a puff off his pipe and looed directly at Noiz. It surprised him that the kid didn’t avert his eyes like most other men did. Interesting...there was no fear in that one at all. Mink added that information to his growing mental list. He was certain he could make use of the kid. A small vibration on his arm took his attention away from the blonde.

“Your grandmother is in the north, at Keisen.”

“Keisen?” Aoba looked from Mink to Koujaku.

“Hmm...makes sense,” Koujaku concedes. “There are more than a few abandoned buildings up that way.”

Mink sat forward and eyed Noiz. “Check it out,” he ordered.

Noiz’s brows furrowed slightly. “I don’t take orders from you.”

The statement amused Mink, though he didn’t show it. Yes, he would definitely find a use for this one.

“We’re both seeking information,” he points out. “Consider it an exchange; my information on Keisen for whatever you discover.”

Noiz clicked his tongue angrily, but did as Mink instructed. He opened his coil, brought out a virtual monitor and keyboard, and began his search.


End file.
